You need to ask BASC to put you in touch with a vet who will dock near you failing that you may have to travel to a vet
And that's one of the worst things about this stupid law - trailing newborns around the country to get heir tails docked!
The docking law didn't make that happen it was happening long before that. People would travel a few hours with newborn pups to get them docked because their own vet wouldn't. _________________ Claire Minstergate Weimaraners
Talked to the owner of the dog last night, it's a shame. He's having to ask friends not to call, because Finn is wagging when people come in and he's hurting himself. Tales of cars and houses covered in blood, dreading coming down the stairs, knowing that the dog is going to be ecstatic to see him and he's going to wag and get hurt quite sad really.
Nina, at the time the ban in England was introduced I was conversing with a lady from Sweden (President of the Weim club IIRC) and she has painted all of her kitchen walls a deep red colour so as not to show the blood from tail damage Looking at one Swedish import you can see that the tail is quiet different from an undocked UK tail but even after 20 years of the ban they still haven't been able to breed a robust enough tail for the cover they hunt in. _________________ Fi 1 year old Weimaraner
Grace Weimaraner. Gone but not forgotten.
Harley Weimaraner. Much loved and sorely missed.
I am sure I saw some contraption for damaged tails to allow them to heal. It was a sort of puffy tube with straps around it and the contraption went over the back of the body so that it could not be wagged off. I can't remember where I saw it, but I wondered if it would work at the time.
My first LM's sister damaged her tail just wagging it furiously. My friend used to find her kitchen covered in blood quite regularly - up the walls and over the units etc etc.
I thought cutting or docking a tail that wouldn't heal was dodgy as it can 'just not heal' closer to 'the point of no return'. Is this not so? I remember that Beecham's brother injured his working (that litter were not tipped) and the vet wanted to amputate a bit of it, but was persuaded not to do so, I think. It did heal eventually, but took forever.
If I remember where I saw that tail damage contraption, I'll let you know.
Sue, I'd appreciate knowing, because there will still be 2 pups that might need it at some point, but there is no going back for Finn now I think. They have tried a couple of things, like pipe lagging taped into place, a syringe without the plunger taped into place (it shattered), and even just basic padded bandaging. They really need a medal for what they have tried, and it is the vet who is now suggesting the procedure, after trying and not succeeding to stop the splitting.
As with all things, there are risks in the procedure and I know that his owner is desperately worried that something might go wrong, but he feels that he knows that there is no other option at this point, because as he said, just as they think it's on the way to healing, hey ho it splits again and they are just having the same thing over and over.
I've asked the owner to write me an account of whats happening, because even I didn't realise just how bad it could be (I really can understand why the lady in Sweden has painted her kitchen red Mike!!).
Thanks again everyone, the support is really appreciated I will try the CDB link too.
Sudacrem ointment (found on the babies section) is excellent for healing split tails and fingers etc. Years ago i had to protect a very waggy tail whilst it healed. I will try to describe what we did Take one girls regulation swimming costume, one mens ankle sock and some gamgee tissue (the stuff you would put under a horses leg bandage.) Cut the sock length ways so it is almost square: lay a similar sized piece of gamgee on top and machine the two together. Resew it as a sock with the gamgee on the inside. The swimming costume is put on the dog with the front on the dogs back and the straps tied around dogs neck.The hind legs go through the leg holes. Now imagaining this position cut a hole in the crutch for the tail and sew the sock into the hole, so the tail is enclosed in the sock when the costume is on the dog. All that now needs to be done is to cut out as much of the remaining crutch as needed,for the dog to pee etc .
After reading this you will probably all think I am bonkers but I know how desperate you feel with a dog with a split tail and this REALLY worked. We used the contraption for several dogs and even used it without the tail guard(padded sock) the right way on the dog to stop a bitch taking out her stitches after spaying. Appearance wise it helped that the costume was black and the dogs were LMs.
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Where did I say anything about a short tail?
Now that a lot more dogs will not be docked there are bound to be lines that have tails that will be predisposed to damage. Obviously, I would have thought, breeders will favour dogs from lines that aren't prone to damage in an attempt to lessen the possible damage to their pups sterns.
?
Des you may not have actually "said a short tail" but your reference to a "bee sting tail" is generally known as short. I've done a very quick google search and found three quotes from Pointer descriptions and they all refer to a bee sting as being "short" :-
a short, tapered "bee sting" tail
the short "bee sting" tail,
The tail is short, reaching no longer than the top of the hock and preferably somewhat shorter
So an ideal tail in a Pointer is a bee sting tail and that is, in comparision to other tailed breeds, shorter
With regards to using dogs whose tails seem to be stronger and lack tail damage - as I've said earlier that there are other "traits" that are higher in the priority list than tails - such as type, ability, temperament to name just a few. _________________ Sharon Pinkerton
www.bareve.com
Owner & breeder of Field Trial 1st prize winners
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There is a huge variation in tail length in Weims - I had two litters born within days of each other, and the tail length of one litter was 2/3 rds the length of the other. I kept one of the pups with the short tails and he has grown into a dog with a full tail that is considerably shorter than that of his half sisters (not much longer than the long docks favoured by German breeders and about 2 inches short of the hock) and for me forms the starting point for breeding for naturally short tails. He comes from working lines, so long tail or no, he is worked.
Basc are happy to help us given the history and they are also interested in any documentation, reports and pictures we may get relating to the tail injury.
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quite sad really.
Take one girls regulation swimming costume, one mens ankle sock and some gamgee tissue (the stuff you would put under a horses leg bandage.) Cut the sock length ways so it is almost square: lay a similar sized piece of gamgee on top and machine the two together. Resew it as a sock with the gamgee on the inside. The swimming costume is put on the dog with the front on the dogs back and the straps tied around dogs neck.The hind legs go through the leg holes. Now imagaining this position cut a hole in the crutch for the tail and sew the sock into the hole, so the tail is enclosed in the sock when the costume is on the dog. All that now needs to be done is to cut out as much of the remaining crutch as needed,for the dog to pee etc .
but I know how desperate you feel with a dog with a split tail and this REALLY worked. We used the contraption for several dogs and even used it without the tail guard(padded sock) the right way on the dog to stop a bitch taking out her stitches after spaying. Appearance wise it helped that the costume was black and the dogs were LMs.